Service Strategy

The Unix and Linux service has for a number of years exisited as an extension of the staff and student printing infrastructure. It utilises a dedicated CUPS server in tandem with the the current SafeCom infrastructure to provide an IT Services supported printing solution for Unix and Linux platforms.

It is our commitment to place an increased focus upon the network printing provision for our Unix and Linux customers. To this end an additional CUPS server, residing behind a load balancing alias, will be commisioned to provide increased performance, capacity and resilience. Key to this goal is the removal of the current single point of failure.

In order to continue to maintain and develop an exceptional service to our customers the following objectives have been laid down.

Service Objectives

• To design and build a 2nd CUPS server held within a Solaris Zone that will provide enhanced capacity and resilience for this service.
• To regularly conduct bi-annual "clear down" operations to ensure that legacy and retired printers are removed from the service.
• To set a maximum number of active printers on each server to ensure high levels of performance and response.
• To regularly publish service performance metrics and SLA's to demonstrate quality of service (QoS) information.
• To look to modernise and streamline the service at every opportunity, whether that is through the use of new software and hardware technologies or by better working practises, utilising process management and cross team collaborative working.
• To design, develop and publish service mapping and linked dependencies documentation to aid incident and problem management.
• To develop server and printer monitoring and managment technologies to provide faster first time fixes and reduce service outages.
• To look to new technologies to provide sevice refinements, resilience and flexibility.